Richard O'Sullivan

Richard O'Sullivan (born May 7, 1944 in Chiswick , Middlesex , Greater London ) is an Irish- British actor who was best known for leading roles in English television series of the 1970s and 1980s.

Life

Early years

O'Sullivan, the son of an Irish couple living in England, grew up in Brentford , Middlesex, where he attended St. John the Evangelist's Catholic School. He received his first acting lessons as a child at the Corona Stage Academy, allegedly because his parents hoped that the associated speech training would give him his strong Irish accent.

Career

As a child, O'Sullivan appeared as a theater actor and in musicals , from the age of nine he was seen, mostly in supporting roles, in various English feature film productions, mostly shallow comedies , including in films with Cliff Richard . In 1963, at the age of nineteen, he received his first and only role in a major Hollywood production : In the monumental film Cleopatra , shot in Italy , he played Cleopatra's brother, Pharaoh Ptolemy XIII, alongside Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton . According to O'Sullivan, he spent a full nine months in Italy filming Cleopatra , even though he was only eight days in front of the camera for his relatively small role. In the following years, O'Sullivan concentrated entirely on roles in TV productions and was mainly seen in smaller roles in various British TV series, such as a series adaptation of Charles Dickens ' Great Expectations (1967). He was introduced to a wider audience in England through the role of doctor Dr. Lawrence Bingham in the comedy series Doctor at Large (1971) and Doctor in Charge (1972-1973) known, in parallel, he impersonated a leading role in the short-lived comedy show Alcott and Gander (1972).

O'Sullivan's breakthrough as a TV star came with the role of the unadjusted but sympathetic life artist Robin Tripp, whom he played in the two cheaply produced but extremely successful sitcoms Man About the House (1973-1976) by the British production company Thames . A man in the house ) and Robin's Nest (1977-1981) (German: Robins Nest ) embodied, both of which could be seen in synchronized versions in German-speaking countries (on ARD in Germany, on ORF in Austria). As typically British comedy productions, the series are assigned to the Britcom genre. In the first episode of Man About the House , the broken-up student Robin Tripp wakes up in the bathtub of a strange London apartment after a boozy party . The two residents Chrissy (Paula Wilcox) and Jo (Sally Thomsett) are shocked at first, but then they take a liking to Robin, all the more because he proves to be a talented hobby cook. Since Robin, who has just moved from Southampton to London, is looking for an apartment and Chrissy and Jo have just lost their roommate, Robin moves in with the two young women without further ado. The shared apartment of two unmarried women with a man is, however, viewed with suspicion by the neighbors, above all the constantly arguing Roper couple. In the course of the series, numerous minor characters appear, including Robin's brother Norman Tripp (Norman Eshley), who marries Chrissy in the last episode. The first episode of the series was shown on English television on August 15, 1973, the last on April 7, 1976, it was extremely popular with the public, the individual episodes attracted up to 16 million viewers in front of the television sets. A total of 39 episodes were produced in six seasons, plus a movie (1974) and an American remake ( Three's Company 1977-1984, German under the title Jack of hearts with two women ; John Ritter played the main character Jack Tripper, modeled on Robin Tripp). In other countries, too, the basic idea of ​​the series has been modified for own productions. This was followed by two spin-offs: George and Mildred (1976–1980) focused on the Roper couple: the series, which is particularly popular in England, was never shown in the German-speaking world, it ended abruptly with the death of Mildred's actress, Yootha Joyce, August 1980.

The story of Robin Tripp was told in Robin's Nest : At the beginning of the series, Robin Tripp lives in a "wild marriage" with the stewardess Vicky Nicholls (Tessa Wyatt, who was in Doctor At Large with O'Sullivan) , his half-hearted attempts to get a job through the employment office fail. When the tenants of a restaurant in the house where the two of them live run away overnight without paying the rent, Robin manages to persuade the homeowner, Vicky's father James (Tony Britton), to run the restaurant for him which will be renamed Robin's Nest . Since Robin is a talented cook , but has no experience as a businessman, and only Vicky and the clumsy one-armed waiter Albert Riddle ( David Kelly ) are available to help, chaos is inevitable. The series draws its humor mainly from the clash of different social spheres, the bohemian milieu in which Robin and Vicky live and the stiff British upper class, to which Vicky's father belongs. Social criticism is also exercised in a mild form , but it is always cushioned by wit and irony and the boyish charm of the main actor and never becomes directly political. What is also interesting from a socio-historical point of view is the fact that in Robin's Nest the cohabitation of an unmarried couple was shown for the first time in an early evening series on British television; Protests from the conservative side motivated the producers to let the second season of the series begin with the wedding of Robin and Vicky. Within four years, 48 ​​episodes were filmed in six seasons, including two Christmas specials. The first episode was broadcast on English television on January 11, 1977, the last on March 31, 1981. Another American version was created: Three's A Crowd , German: Jack's Bistro (1984–1985). O'Sullivan, himself the title theme was composed of the series, marketed his success as Robin Tripp in the form of a written by him cookbook that contains autobiographical notes.

Parallel to the filming of Robin's Nest , O'Sullivan played the title role in Dick Turpin (1979-1982), a comedic adventure series for young people, a legendary English mugger of the 18th century (31 episodes in four seasons). The series also ran on German-language television (including on WEST 3, ARD and DDR 1) under the titles Die Abenteuer des Dick Turpin and Die maddreisten Streich des Dick Turpin . O'Sullivan's last leading role in a television series was that of a single father to a teenage daughter in Me and My Girl (1984-1988, 52 episodes). The series was moderately successful in its country of origin, England, and did not hit the international market; it was not seen on German-language television.

End of career

The termination of Me and My Girl in 1988 also marked the de facto end of O'Sullivan's acting career: In the following years he only appeared sporadically on television, sometimes in commercials (e.g. for British Gas), from the mid-1990s he withdrew - apart from a few brief appearances in television shows - largely from the public. Newspapers reported about mental health problems ( depression , alcoholism ) and the resulting financial difficulties of O'Sullivan.

In 2003, O'Sullivan suffered a severe stroke that caused permanent physical impairment, and two years later he broke both legs in a fall. He now lives in Brinsworth House in Twickenham , south west London , a nursing home run by the Entertainment Artistes' Benevolent Fund , a welfare organization for actors and stage performers in need.

Private life

O'Sullivan was a male sex symbol in his homeland in the 1970s and 1980s and had numerous female fans. After a failed first marriage, he had a secret three-year relationship with Sally Thomsett, who played Jo, while filming Man About the House . From 1978 to 1985 he was in a relationship with Tessa Wyatt, his series partner from Robin's Nest , from this relationship comes his only child, a son named Jamie. A later second marriage to actress Christine Smart ended in divorce in the mid-1990s.

Richard O'Sullivan on DVD

A large number of the sitcoms in which O'Sullivan played a leading role are now available as DVD editions in the English original - but not in the German dubbed versions, as are some of the early British feature films. For the DVD edition of the comedy film Carry On, Teacher (1959) in 2006 O'Sullivan recorded an audio commentary.

Filmography

• 1953: The Yellow Balloon
• 1954: Dance, Little Lady
• 1954: His Greatest Trial (The Green Scarf)
• 1955: The Black Prince (The Dark Avenger)
• 1956: Jacqueline
• 1956: It's Great to Be Young
• 1957: No Time for Tears
• 1959: It's crazy - lots of lovable teachers (Carry On Teacher)
• 1960: The Young Ones
• 1961: Temptation on the school desk (Spare the Rod)
• 1963: Cleopatra
• 1964: Wonderful Life
• 1965: Every Day's a Holiday
• 1968: Death Dance of a Killer (A Dandy in Aspic)
• 1969: The Haunted House of Horror
• 1970: Futtock's End
• 1972: Au Pair Girls
• 1973 Father, Dear Father - guest appearance on television series
• 1974: Man About the House
• 1975: Can You Keep It Up For A Week?

TV Shows

• 1967: Great Expectations: Herbert Pocket
• 1971-72: Doctor at Large: Lawrence Bingham
• 1972–73: Doctor in Charge: Lawrence Bingham
• 1971-1973: Now Look Here: Keith
• 1972: Alcock and Gander: Richard Gander
• 1973-76: Man About the House: Robin Tripp
• 1977-81: Robin's Nest: Robin Tripp
• 1979-82: Dick Turpin: Dick Turpin
• 1984-88: Me and My Girl: Simon Harrap

literature

• Richard O'Sullivan, Man About the Kitchen. With cartoons by Larry. London (Elm House) 1980 (?) ISBN 090-7-12001-6
• Mark Lewisohn, Radio Times Guide to TV Comedy: London: BBC Worldwide ISBN 978-0-563-48755-5
• Tex Fisher, Man About the House - George and Mildred: The Definitive Companion, Deck Chair Publishing 2010, ISBN 978-0-9565634-0-8

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Old Man About the House
2. ↑ As grows worryingly frail